Stronger for Both of Them
by NaraLikesWords
Summary: 'She knew he asked her to become stronger for both of them, but right now, she felt so weak, so guilty, she couldn't help but melt into tears.'


Hinata sat across from the door, unable to see anything through the window. A blank white fabric covered it; all she could see were shadows of the doctors rushing across the room, trying to save his life. Her clothes were torn to shreds, barely hanging onto her. Cuts and bruises invaded her body, leaving trails of dried blood here and there. A couple of nurses had offered to treat her to her wounds, but she shook her head in refusal. These were but minor cuts. Nothing that she would die of.

Nothing like what Naruto was enduring.

She couldn't hear their voices, either. All she could do was wait, twiddling her fingers nervously, tapping her foot, staring at the door that separated her and the one she loved.

"Naruto," she whispered nervously, pale eyes filling up with tears.

He didn't have to do what he did. But he did, just to save her life.

Pain had cornered her. He was seething with anger, an emotion so strange for him to be showing. The anger only showed through his eyes, and his clenched jaw. Everything else about him seemed eerily calm. He was angry because of how things were turning. His side of the war was losing, and all of his accomplices had died, either by the hands of Naruto, or of Kakashi. He had to find either one of them, and kill them, but all he found was the dark haired girl.

Hinata was already worn out. Her muscles were sore, and her body was drained of any chakra energy she had in the beginning. Her body was covered in gashes and stained with a mixture of blood and dirt. She had deactivated her byakugan a while ago; it was already using too much chakra. She had been resting behind a pile of fallen trees when she saw him inching towards her calmly. _Maybe he won't attack me,_ she thought to herself, but as he neared her, she could see the anger in his eyes. She gasped to herself, backing up against the trees. She quickly stood up, staggering a little, trying hard to keep her fighting stance. Standing up was all she had done, and already her ribs were aching as she tried to breathe.

She would probably die here.

"Where is Naruto," Pain asked her, his voice leveled with enough venom and anger to make her flinch.

"I-," Hinata began to say, but her throat clogged up with fear. What if she said she really didn't know where he was? It was the honest truth, but that statement could send him into a rampage of silent anger, enough anger to kill her. She would have to fight back somehow, or lead him to someone else that could help her. Closing her eyes, she silently activated her byakugan, and looked around. She couldn't detect anyone's chakra. For those few seconds that her byakugan was activated, her head began to pulse. She blinked a few more times, the power of the byakugan withering away until it was gone, along with the rest of her chakra.

_Hopeless._

"I… won't tell you," she had finally said, staggering into a fighting stance. She would simply have to use hand-to-hand combat in the last minutes of her life. She truly believed this fight would be her last.

Pain narrowed his eyes at the girl, examining her. Did she know where Naruto was, or was she simply bluffing to get his anger going? She wasn't who he was looking for, but he needed a way to release this red hot anger he was feeling. He bit the inside of his tongue, the bitter taste of blood overflowing his taste buds. His eyes twitched with anger.

She would do just fine.

"Hmf. If you won't tell me-" In a flash, he disappeared from the spot and appeared right before Hinata. She gasped, pressing her back against the trees, feeling her eyes swell up with tears.

_Naruto…!_

"I'll force the information out of you," he whispered lowly, slamming a fist into her stomach.

The immense pressure and pain she felt in her stomach was too much for her. The pain numbed her, made her weak all throughout her body, and caused her to cough out a small amount of blood. Her heavy body fell to the ground, limp with pain. She opened her eyes and everything around her spun. She saw Pain's feet stepping toward her. One of the feet disappeared, and she felt another jabbing pain shoot from her stomach and to the rest of her body. Why was he toying with her? He was so powerful, and all he had given her were punches and kicks to the stomach. So much power, yet why didn't he simply finish her off in one move?

A few more slams against the now shattered trees and she couldn't feel anything. Bones in her body were most likely shattered, and she couldn't make out anything before her. All she could see was a dark image picking her up and shoving her body flat against the ground.

"I'm finished," Pain spoke, his voice hoarse and unamused. "Should I finish you off, or let you rot here?" Her head throbbed. She coughed up more blood. This man was unimaginably disturbed.

She weakly turned her eyes to his face. His emotionless face was still intact, but his eyes were filled with the same venom as before. He brought his hands together to form a hand sign, and that's when Hinata knew it was over. She closed her eyes tightly, letting out a shaky breath.

_Naruto, I-_

"Hinata!"

_Naruto? _Hinata blinked her eyes open wide. She could have sworn she heard Naruto's voice…

The blond jumped in front of Hinata, sending a punch that didn't quite land on Pain's face, but did send him staggering back in silent shock.

Hinata watched as a pleased smirk spread across Pain's lips.

"Naruto, r-run!" Hinata barely managed to choke out. Naruto looked back. Somehow, the bad situation they were in vanished from her thoughts. All she could think about was the determination in Naruto's blue eyes, how his face showed he was willing to protect her in every way. She stared at his blue eyes, couldn't help but blush.

"I'm not running away," he said lowly, pulling off his torn up jacket. Half of his body was covered in dirty bandages. Again, the situation at hand disappeared from her thoughts, and she blushed. "Stay put, Hinata."

Naruto turned away from her, and he and Pain started throwing attacks. Quick punches and kicks to begin with, both so evenly matched, dodging each one. When Naruto landed an attack on him, he landed an attack on him as well. The fight was making her nervous, and each blow that Naruto took, Hinata felt it with a sting at her heart. Her head began to throb again, and she was slowly losing consciousness. She couldn't pass out now! What if something bad happened to Naruto? This wasn't something she could control, though, and as she tried to grasp the consciousness that was slowly blinking away, she fell into a dark, deep sleep.

When her eyes flickered open again, her body was sore, but when she saw Naruto lying limp on the ground, a quick flash of energy warmed her body. Or was that fear that warmed her body? She got on her knees; her muscles trembled as she slowly crawled towards Naruto. His back was facing her, and she could tell his breaths were coming out irregularly, too hard and too short. Tears threatened to spill out. She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned him slowly towards her. To her surprise, he was smiling, and his eyes were half open. A small trickle of blood was flowing out of the corner of his mouth, and his body was scarred all over. How long would he stay awake?

"Naruto, are you-"

"I finished him off, Hinata," he whispered, coughing and gasping for a breath. Hinata's eyes widened and she lay a hand on his heart.

"Naruto!" she shouted, her voice full of worry. She darted her eyes up and could make out Pain's body. He wasn't breathing any more.

"Hinata… I'm done…. I'm… I'm going to die." When Naruto said what she was trying hard not to believe, the tears finally dripped from her eyes, rolled down her cheeks and fell on Naruto's forehead. She quickly, embarrassedly, wiped them away. This wasn't any time to be embarrassed. She had to stay strong.

"Naruto, no, you're not going to die! You're not going to die!" she repeated, her screaming becoming weaker and weaker. "Y-You can't," she sobbed, resting her head against his chest. His heart drummed slowly and weakly under her eardrum.

"Hinata," he whispered, his voice fragile and broken. She picked her head up to look into his almost closed eyes. "You're… You're a good person. You have changed… Please, become stronger for the both of us." Her vision blurred with even more tears.

"Naruto, I… I love you," she finally choked out. After all of these years of hiding in fear from him, blushing and stuttering around him, she finally managed to tell him her true feelings, and at the most unbearable time.

She waited for a response. After wiping her eyes, she noticed that the hand over his heart felt no heartbeat.

Naruto was gone.

Thinking back brought more tears to her eyes. She propped her elbows on her knees, buried her head in her hands, and sobbed. She let out all of the fear, the pain, the tears, and the helpless feeling she felt when she saw Naruto die. She knew he asked her to become stronger for both of them, but right now, she felt so weak, so guilty, she couldn't help but melt into tears.

After a few minutes of silent crying, she wiped her tears away, and stared forward. Mustering up enough chakra, she activated her byakugan to see if she could see Naruto's chakra, but she saw nothing.

"Ms. Hyuga," a soft, comforting voice spoke. She looked up at the nurse calling her name. "If you wish, you can see Mr. Uzumaki…" The way the nurse's voice trailed off, Hinata knew she felt pity for her. Naruto was dead, and she had been there to witness it. Part of her didn't want to walk in and see Naruto's cold, lifeless body, but another part, her stronger part, urged her to walk in and say her final goodbye.

"Thank you," she mumbled softly, getting to her feet. The nurse opened the door for her, allowing Hinata to walk into the white walled, white-tiled hospital room. A doctor taking quick notes on his clipboard looked up at her, sympathetic eyes meeting her tear streaked ones.

"Ms. Hyuga, I'm sorry but… you're friend, he-"

"May I just be alone for a second," she whispered softly, averting her eyes from his. The doctor looked at her, surprised, but nodded anyway and walked out of the room. After a few second, Hinata walked over to Naruto, sitting on the chair next to his hospital bed. She stared at the body before her. The lifeless body that once used to be an energetic Naruto was covered in bandages. His head was even bandaged, but Hinata was glad to see that peaceful look on his face. One of his hands was hanging off the edge of the bed. She reached forward and grabbed it.

_Cold._

Despite that, she still wrapped her hand around his, how she would have if she had ever confessed her feelings earlier. Had she done that, would things have gone differently? Would she have been so weak during Naruto's time of need?

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you, but…" She swallowed hard, blinking away the tears piling up. "I promise to become stronger like you asked. I'll make sure… I'll make sure to protect Konoha like you wanted to…" She let the tears fall out, laid her head against his unmoving chest. "I promise…"

* * *

_My latest attempt at third person ;A; I'm a big fan of first person, but I decided to give third person a chance, and I think I did fairly well n.n I'm not sure if I'm going to leave this as a one shot, or continue it for a bit longer, but for the mean time I'll leave it as in progress. I might change the title as well..._

_Anyways, thanks for your views and reviews n.n_


End file.
